Appointment with Kalidasa

Author(s): G K Bhatt
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 31

Appointment with Kalidasa
leave nothing to be said about his personal charm; his nakedness proclaims what wealth he has; nobody knows about his lineage. How could Pārvati come to love such a personality ? How horrible it would be when Siva's serpent-coiled hand would hold Pärvati's hand in the marriage ceremony ! How could his elephant-hide match with the silken brial dress of Pārvati ? And how ridiculous would the bridal procession be when Pārvats would ride behind siva on the back of a bull! Pārva tĩ was flaring in anger as the Batu was proceeding; and now she came out with a stunning reply. To her mind there were hardly any people who realised the quintessence of Siva's unique personality. Lacking garments to wear Siva was the source of all riches; living in cemetery he was the master of the three worlds; dreadful in outward aspect he was known as Śiva or the auspicious. He symbolised the Universal Man, and it did not matter, therefore, what he wore, where he lived or how he acted. He may ride a bull; but Indra riding his Airāvata makes way for him and bows at his feet. It is no wonder if his lineage is not known; how could one know the birth of the god who creates the self-born Brahman ? But Parvati did not wish to argue with a flippant, talkative chap, and ordered her companion to show him the way out; and she herself got up to leave the place, because listening to the abuse of the great is itself a sin.
The young ascetic threw away his disguise, and stood before Pārvatï as Śiva. He took her hand in his, and declared kimself to be her 'servant, bought by her austerities' and, of course, her devotion and love.
The proposal of marriage is then brought formally to Himavat by Arundhati and the seven sages. The marriage is celebrated with regal splendour and divine touch with full ritual and festivities. Kālidāsa devotes the eighth canto to describing the pleasures of love of the newly married couple.
The printed editions of the epic have nine more cantos which carry the story forward, describing the birth of Kumāra, his growing up, his exploits and his gigantic fight with the demon Taraka in which he kills him. But in the execution of the story, poetic imagery, use and handling of metres, language and diction, the imitation of Kālidāsa can be recognised but not the sure and genuine hand of the poet. The commentary of Mallinätha is not available after the eighth canto. It is argued that the birth of Kumāra-Kārtikeya and Tāraka-vadha are an integral part of this legend and the story, therefore, ought to include them. But is it a literary compulsion for a poet to handle the whole legend ? Does he not have the freedom of art to choose a part of the legen and leave the rest with enough poetic suggestion ? That is what Kalidāsa seems to have done. The traditional belief that Kālidāsa wrote a full epic but the cantos after the eighth came to be lost somehow, is a belief I do not share. It does not appear from the title of the epic that Kālidāsa had planned a full story of Siva-varśa or Kumara-carita. Kālidāsa appears to have in his mind the story of the uncommon love of Siva and Pārvati, culminating in their marriage.